Cosmic Guitar Gurus
On 23 May 2009 Music 101 broadcast 'Cosmic Guitar Gurus: The Eddie Hansen Story - Ticket to Ride.' Here are some of the stories from listeners that the programme inspired...
Brendan
I was one of the hundreds of young people who trouped up to Aubrey's every weekend to listen in Awe to Eddie Hansen. He was a guitar players guitar player. There was no one like him on the music scene, and he rivaled all of the big international names of the time both in his originality, technique and raw emotion.
For a time I helped a a friend, Bob Foulkes perform 'light shows' at Aubrey's using coloured food die and either between two glass slides in an old projector. The heat of the lamp would cause the either to boil and make amazing shapes with the food die on the wall. I digress.
I can recall some wonderful times including the very last night they played. People didn't dance, they just sat on the floor and listened - as if it were a very special concert.
It was.
One disappointment in listening to the show was how little of Eddie's music was played. Sure, there was some tracks behind the voice over in the background, but almost none of the pure guitar magic that he wove on stage. You really had to be there! As it was mentioned on the show, the songs would often lasted half an hour, and everyone was transported.
Ian, Wellington
Folks, great hearing the old Ticket stuff took me back to the Chch Horticultural Hall - when it was by the Avon and Aubrey's and Levi's Saloon in Auckland and other places I forget that my neurons overloaded in or that I've overwritten
Black Sabbath were crap at Ngaruawahia arrogant tossers - Fairport Convention had some humanity and humility
Sad that Ticket didn't make the stage saw them at Levi's Saloon (I think, days before Ngaruawahia) But Butler (fromChch) did play and they would give Ticket a run for their money as NZ's early psychedelic Acid rock band - Steve Apirana and the boys in the bus gigged all over from 1970 though the Human Instinct / underdogs probably beat them all...
Favourite NZ Gigs
For NZ Music Month in May 2009, we asked Music 101 listeners to tell us about their favorite New Zealand gig.
Hamish
My girlfriend and I went to see the Muttonbirds at the Riverside in Newcastle sometime around 1996 (we were studying in nearby Sunderland). It was a cold and very wet North-East mid-week evening and the audience consisted only of us, the bouncers and a very drunk dancing Geordie who seemed very appreciative of the otherwise vacant dance-floor. The band, never-the-less, played a blinder.
The Muttonbirds returned a year or so later and, thankfully, the audience was considerably bigger.
Owen, Auckland
The Scavengers – Mysterex - Never missed a night when they played at Zwines in Auckland. Strangely, Hello Sailor played first one night, playing everything faster to try to fit in.
After a bit we all started chanting "we want Scavs, we want Scavs."
For some reason everyone stopped at once except for one guy alone on the dance floor.
One of the band leaned over and said very deliberately "you've probably already got scavs mate." Then Scavengers came on and blew us all away. Not unlike the solo chanter on the dance floor I think I was the last to stop laughing. My, how time has flown by.
Anon
I saw the Tumbleweeds at Barrytown Tavern when an earthquake struck, taking out the power.
Out came candles and a battery guitar amp and we danced on till the wee hours.
Becs
Two great gigs from me and my partner:
The Tapemen, Damned Evangelist and Boss Christ tearing up the Colville Hall in the middle of nowhere; and David Kilgour and White Swan/Black Swan at the Coromandel Little Theatre performing to a crowd of eight very appreciative fans. Thank you David.
Janet
As a Uni student in late eighties I organised an extra gig for a band called The Blue Marbles on a Sunday night in a bar that normally hosted Irish bands. The night had some big competition from a well established band in Christchurch. The owner of the bar agreed to open up coz there were just no venues in the city. (He was really doing it out of the kindness of his heart).
We thought it would just get enough people to help the band get back up north.
The night turned out to be awesome - totally packed out, heaps of dancing and everybody just loving the music. We got paid in beer and the band got the door take - fantastic! The owner was rapt too.
Caroline, Christchurch
The Muttonbirds at Warners Hotel in Christchurch in 1993. I was big with child and hoping he was enjoying the music too. Don McGlashan's mournful brass, the intense drummer who made me think of Animal from The Muppets (in a most reverential way), and those wonderful songs which paint such clear pictures and then shade them with mood, and sometimes menace - White Valiant, for one.
Andrew, Wellington
One of the most impressive gigs I have been to for a while happened two years ago - during NZ Music Month, featuring Miriam Clancy at Happy in Wellington.
Support act was Lauren Thomson - both put on a superb show. Seeing Miriam performing - truly an international calibre artist - just metres from our noses was stunning. I was so impressed that I just had to get a copy of Miriam's CD 'Lucky One' - and the icing on the cake was being equally impressed when listening to this. The result - I am definitely a fan of Miriam Clancy.
Dean
The Oamaru Roadie
I was in a band sometime in the past - it may have been the nineties. We were on tour with a much more well known band.
We were at the place we always stopped at because of it's famous homemade ice cream and berries and started swapping stories, as you do. Someone related the story of the Oamaru roadie.
The band was at some church in Oamaru, loading in the gear for the gig that night. They'd been on the road for a while and were in no mood for shenanigans. this time, load-in seemed to be taking forever. Matthew says, he stopped for a sec and watched what was going on. The roadie, a drug addled local punk rocker, was told to "help load the gear" and was doing just that - in reverse order however. - For every armload of gear going IN to the church, was an equal and opposite load being returned OUT to the van.
The roadie had to be reminded, in no doubt economical language, that the gig hadn't happened yet. and while his enthusiasm was to be encouraged, could he please load OUT, AFTER the gig, and load IN, BEFORE the gig.
Mike
I saw Sonny Day at Ostend Hall, Waiheke Island. many, many years ago. A great audience of Punks, Spunks and Drunks. The band cut loose.
Nada
The best local gig I have seen in the last long while was @ Bar Bodega, Wellington. The Volunteers from Kapiti Coast. It was their debut CD release gig. They blew me away with fantastic songs, performed with personality plus. Great music, great stage act.
Dean
Hands down the best gig I've ever attended - and was a part of - was for Canterbury University Orientation.
My band Creeley kicked off proceedings, Mutton Birds followed, Supergroove stomped all over it to finish.
I was out back talking to the Supergroove bass player about basses, cos we had the same one (geeky, i know), and he had a wireless unit plugged in to his instead of the analogue cables-into-amps we were using. AND these guys were doing stretches and stuff. I was asking him about both. He explained it all very calmly to me, but still my band were all "pfft. JAFAs." Supergroove were super, and grooved. Jeez, they jumped and ran all over the stage, climbed the PA stack, they had mini trampolines, they got big air. Humble, nice guys too.
It's the most memorable "eat my words with a slice of humble pie" moment I've ever had.
Also can I please say - you guys ROCK. I evangelise Music 101 all over the place.
Eddie, Masterton
Wellington Heads 3rd CD Release party with 5piece brass section & squeezebox at Sandwiches - awesome songs about Wgtn places.
Anon
Russian karaoke at Wunderbar. People had to perform Le Mot Cafes new single which is all in Russian. There was also a colouring in comp with crayons. Fun!
Tim
I went to see Neil Finn playing a motley crew he’d assembled from fans and students who were continuously leaving and arriving on stage as if they were waiting for a bus and playing with Neil was a way to pass the time. It just goes to show how well his songs are know. Would Bob Dylan try such an experiment?
Anon
Saw SJD at Wanaka Festival of Colour last night, absolutely brilliant!
Anon
Best ever gig was Dam Native boys jamming in my friends kitchen!
We’re so lucky in NZ to have access to amazing musicians! Singing our stories to us in our living rooms.
Leah
Mel Parsons @ Le Cafe Picton rocked our socks off. We are in our 50s and hadn’t seen a live gig for 10 yrs.
Georgia
The first concert I went to was Homegrown where I got to see Elemeno P, whose drummer threw me his drumstick! We also saw Evermore, Goodnight Nurse, Blindspot, Opshop and Streetwise Scarlet!! It was awesome!
Sofia
The Woolshed Sessions in Akld blew us away with folk, murder ballads, good humour + Gr8 banjo playing!